


500 Words You Should Know #317: Obfuscation

by meaghann



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 08:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4998289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meaghann/pseuds/meaghann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack Robinson meets young Archie Jones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	500 Words You Should Know #317: Obfuscation

**Author's Note:**

> For Fire_Sign
> 
> This is my first writing in a long while, but I couldn't resist trying it.

obfuscate  
[ob-fuh-skeyt, ob-fuhs-keyt] 

verb (used with object), obfuscated, obfuscating.  
1.  
to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.  
2.  
to make obscure or unclear:  
to obfuscate a problem with extraneous information.  
3.  
to darken.

 

The smoke was thick as Archie Jones swung his leg over the seat of the motorcycle and kicked it into life. He wrapped his scarf over his mouth to keep out the worst of it and set off to find the front. He was proud and excited to be given the important job of messenger. He was small and fast and had no fear. Many had remarked that he was cunning and could be relied on to get a message through.

The front was not marked by a wall or signs or anything else, just countryside that had fewer trees and more mud and then the camp with the soldiers. The man on guard pointed out Captain Jack Robinson and Archie left his bike leaning against the supply shed and strode forward. The captain was a tall man with a lean, haggard face. He looked tired and drawn, but there was the ghost of mirth lingering still. His quick intelligent eyes saw Archie at once and stood. He returned Archie’s salute and waited calmly for the message.

“Captain Jack Robinson?” asked Archie.

“Yes Private, what do you have for me?”

Private Jones reached into his messenger pouch and retrieved a small, metal cylinder and passed it over to the Captain. Jack opened it at once and seeing what was there, sat on a nearby stump and pulled out a pencil and a scrap of paper. He started making a grid, but turned his back while he wrote in it. He worked steadily for twenty minutes while Archie waited and then handed back the cylinder. Captain Robinson summoned a subordinate and gave a set of orders in rapid succession and that man ran off quickly to see them done. Then the captain seemed to relax a bit and pulled out cigarette case and offered one to Archie. 

“Sir, what was that you did there? With the box on paper?” Archie couldn’t restrain his curiousity, he had been fascinated watching the captain.

“It’s a code,private, a way to send messages so the enemy can’t read them. A game of obfuscation the military plays. It’s a pretty simple one named after Lord Playfair. I can show you how it works while we wait if you like.”

Jack was amused by the young private, he seemed so eager, soaking everything up. He was too smart to be here, he should be in school at home.

Archie pulled up a wooden box and Jack pulled out another piece of paper. 

“Now private, you need a word that is your code word with whoever you are sending the messages to. Once you have that word, you mark out a 5x5 grid and starting in the top left corner you write the word. If it has any repeated letters you leave out the the repeats, and use only the first instances, yes?” Archie nodded and Jack carried on. “Next you add in the remaining letters of the alphabet omitting Q for space. Then you write out your message dividing it into two letter groups beginning to end. Taking the first two, you find them on the grid and if the letters form the edge of a rectangle you take the letters on the opposite corner as the encoded letters and write them down. If the letters on the grid are in a line you use the letters below or to the side. Simple. Once the message is written out, with no telltale spaces, the person on the other end will do the same to find the answer. It’s easy once you’ve done a few times.”

Archie was impressed and they practised a few times until he felt he could do it without instruction. 

“Thank you sir, that was most interesting.”

Jack gave him a true smile and then looked very serious for a moment, “Just don’t tell anyone I showed you. These men here don’t care, but others will.” and Archie nodded. 

“What is your name private?”

“Archie Jones sir, from Darwin”

“Well Archie Jones, if you are of age to be in this army I’ll eat this hat, but I wish you all the luck in the world. Keep your head down and stay safe.”

Jack Robinson heard nothing of Private Archie Jones until the hours after an attack on headquarters a few days later. Everything was in chaos and Jack led his men to help with the wounded and to guard what was left of their headquarters buildings until they could move. He was walking into the hospital to speak to the Head Doctor about packing up and moving west in the morning when two men bustled pass with a wounded boy on a stretcher. It was Private Jones looking small and scared, covered in blood and dirt, his uniform torn and his eyes unfocused. Jack followed them in and took the boy’s hand.

“Archie? It’s Captain Robinson, remember I taught you that puzzle?”

Archie’s eyes fluttered open and he managed a small smile at the sight of Jack.

“Sir, I didn’t stay safe.” His voice was small and Jack tried not to show how worried he was.

“Not many did this time private. It happens, I will see you soon. Don’t worry. The doctors do good work here” and Jack Robinson watched as they carried Archie away. 

Sometime the next morning, a nurse came to tell him that Archie hadn’t made it. It was another layer of hard shell over his heart and he told himself that he didn’t have time to mourn, that he must carry on. It was a lie that was eating away at him slowly, but he didn’t have time to examine it.

* * * * * * *

 

Phryne and Jack sat side by side on the piano bench, the strains of “Let’s Misbehave” having just faded away. Phryne grinned devilishly at him, enjoying the closeness and this more relaxed and happy Jack.

“So Jack, where did Archie Jones come from? He’s certainly a fun character.”

“It just seemed a good name for a young man in this new radio business,” but she could tell there was more he wasn’t saying. “A very specific name, Jack. A very specific character too. What secret are you hiding?” She gave him a long look and then relented, getting up to pour them drinks. They moved over the chaise and he spoke without looking at her, the fireplace holding great interest.

“Archie Jones was a young, very young private in France who was a messenger for our unit. He died at sixteen when our headquarters was bombed. I thought maybe if I borrowed his name, he could have some adventures. It was a foolish idea.” Jack kept staring uncomfortably at the fireplace, but Phryne moved so he had to look at her.

“Jack what you did was a wonderful gesture. It’s horrid that a boy should die so young, before having any fun with his life. I salute you” and she clinked her glass with his. He stood up and smiled a real smile. 

“You are too kind Miss Fisher,” and in a lower voice, “and I appreciate your getting me to talk. I go home lighter than I came” and he kissed her lightly on the lips and swept out of the house, before he could examine that too closely. Phryne grinned in delight and went off to bed dreaming of Jack’s lips and hands.


End file.
